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Welcome to the second iteration of Vogue’s global spa guide, an index of the 100 best spas in the world, built from the expertise of our global editors and trusted contributors. There is a lot to choose from in the world of wellness, and no matter how far you’re planning to travel—from a subway ride to a trans-Atlantic flight—we want to make sure it’s worth the journey. Whatever your path, let us be your guide.
Why go here?
COMO Shambhala Singapore is the only Singaporean outlet for the Singapore-based and founded COMO Shambhala, part of the larger COMO hotels resorts empire, founded by Christina Ong. While the Bali location is advertised as the premiere retreat for a secluded, all-encompassing experience, the Singapore location is the “urban flagship,” touted as the center for innovation for the entire Shambhala enterprise. In a city where you can’t walk a block without running into a second-floor walk-in massage parlor, it offers something distinctly high-end, stylish, efficient, and elegant.
What’s the vibe?
Designed by Milan-based designer and architect, Paola Navone of OTTO Studio, COMO Shambhala Singapore is aesthetically unified by its pale blue tiles, sort of like what you might find in an upscale Italian pool or a location scouted by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino. It’s a quite distinct look for an Asian spa, modern, crisp and without a bamboo shoot or orchid in sight. (Delicious warm ginger tea is served in cups sourced by Ong from artisanal pottery studio in Ubud, Bali, pottery—that’s the kind of inspired aesthetic grace notes the spa incorporates.)
The spa itself feels like the kind of place that busy Singaporeans might stop by for an hour or two. People don’t seem to stay still in general in this city, and the spa seems aware that it’s (mostly) catering to a clientele that is on the move. (There is a multi-day “digestive reset” program involving cleanses of varying intensities if you do want to call the hotel and spa home for a stretch.) On the day I visited there were far more people bustling in and out in spandex than shuffling around in robes.
What’s the history?
As mentioned, COMO Shambhala, with 16 locations around the world (spanning the globe, from Turks and Caicos to Bhutan to London), has become synonymous with elegant, high-end wellness retreats. But there is a special resonance to COMO Shambhala Singapore, the only Singaporean outlet for the Singapore-based company. COMO Shambhala, in fact, first started in 1997 as a local yoga studio in the city. This outlet is part of the relatively new COMO Orchard hotel, which opened in 2023, just off the buzzing, luxury-laden shopping thoroughfare of Orchard Road where pedestrians pass in and out of air-conditioned malls, laden with Gucci or Prada shopping bags.
What should you try?
COMO Shambhala is grounded in the idea that wellness starts from within—what that means is a bit subject to interpretation, but generally speaking the spa strives to use technology in moderation, pairing it with more traditional, tried-and-true therapies. You won’t find a laser machine humming in the corner of every facial room, for example. You can, however, get a InBody Composition Analyzer scan to customize a workout regimen or, as I did, spend some time in a Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) chamber—a recliner enclosed in a Jetsons-like pod that felt like it might catapult you to outer space. Used in medical settings to help with ailments ranging from tissue disease to carbon monoxide poisoning by flooding the tissues with oxygen, advocates claim it can also help with insomnia, fatigue. (While I wasn’t quoted any benefits to my complexion, according to Johns Hopkins, it also encourages the production of new collagen.)
I also had a Microbiome Facial with Gua Sha and a Thai massage, and in both instances, the therapists were efficient and no-nonsense, warning me of redness or soreness that might ensue, while also precise and careful. For the massage, I was laid on a mat on the floor, while the therapists manipulated my limbs, knuckled my pressure points, and pedaled the undersides of my hamstrings with his heels. It was a bit like going through a meat tenderizing process while splayed out on the floor like a happy chicken cutlet. Not the kind of experience where you might doze off into lazy oblivion, but a refreshing tonic of a treatment.
How environmentally friendly is it?
Singapore as a country is nothing if not conscious of its need to conserve and protect. (On a visit to a civic-minded museum I learned more than I’d ever thought possible about the country’s desalinization and water management efforts.) The COMO hotels resports and spa make similar efforts to reduce energy and water consumption, as well as the overall impact, sourcing locally to support small local producers, and preserving natural habitats. The company also uses recyclable plastics for product packaging and is gradually digitizing business communications to reduce waste.
What else do we need to know?
If you’re not familiar with the COMO brand, it’s worth spending a little time poking around the hotel itself. On the ground level of the hotel you will find Club 21, the high-end boutique that COMO owner Christina Ong founded when she was in her twenties, as well as the first cafe from world famous pastry chef Cédric Grolet in Singapore. In other words, you might be tempted to indulge in therapy of a different sort on your way in or out.
Booking details for COMO Metropolitan
Address: 30 Bideford Rd, Singapore 229922
Read more from Vogue’s Global Spa Guide.
